Musical instrument bow



1949- E. B. TICHENOR 2,478,027

MUSICAL INSTRUMENT BOW Filed Oct. 28. 1944 IN V EN TOR.

EGJB Patented Aug. 2, 1949 UN ITED- STATES PATENT j OFFICE MUSICALINSTRUMENTBOW Edwii'1 B. Tichenor, Birmingham, Ala.

Appliance October--28, 1944, Serial No. 560,764 6 Claims. (01. 84- 2825)This invention 7. relates to bows; for: playing musical instruments suchas.violins,:cellos, and similar instruments provided-with one or a pluranty of strings or other vibratory elements.

The main object of the inventionzis toprovide improvements in stringedmusical; instrument bows in which the hair or othermaterialavhich besubstituted for ;hair;-is;;fashi onedinto a pie repiaceable unit;To;;acc,omplish this nose, means are provided ;for holding thev hairunit in the bowwhich will permitthe bow tobe re haired in thegenerallyaccepted ;way if no 1 covered by the present invention isavailabie, or for any othergreason. Also to provide a lower section ofthe bowhead made of plastic or some other suitablematerial, having apreiashioned pociret or recess to receive one endof the assembled hairin such a manner as to obviate the necessity of cutting, drilling orother wise carving out-such; recess in :the head in fashioning the bowstick. Also to provide. -a lower head section of such design as to,eliminate the need for the conventional tipping with metal or othermaterial. Also to provide a frog interchangeable with the usual type sothat the how i can be re haired by the generally used method, that is,by lznctting the ends of the hair assembly and holding in place inrecesses in the head and frog with wooden wedges. Also to provide meansfor firmly holding the refill of the present invention so as to preventit from slipping or wor ing out of place, either while the hair assem yis relaxed or taut. Also to provide in the frog end of the refill aslide member with a head the shape of which will cause the slide toreplace the protrusion and covering semi-circular ring found in theconventional frog at the place where the hair emerges from the frog.Also to provide a shape, balance, and feel for the bow, which, to theuser, shall not be disconcerting by comparison with the shape, balance,and feel of the conventional type of how.

Other advantages will appear from the drawing and description.

Referring to the drawing, part of this application, it will be observedthat Fig. 1 is a side view of the assembled bow partly cut out,embodying the present invention; Fig. 2 is a side view of the hair unitassembly partly cut out; Fig. 3 is an enlarged side view of the bowhead; Fig. 4 is a side view on line 4-4 of Fig. 5 of the bow frog partlyin section; Fig. 5 is a sectional view on line 5-5 of Fig. 4; Fig. 6 isa sectional view on line 6-6 of Fig. '7; Fig. '7 is a sectional view 2?on line I -L of Fig.:3; Fig.-8 is an'enlarged center sectional view ofpart 'of thefrog; Fig. 9 is a cross sectionalviewoflthe irogon line 9--9of Fig. 8 assuming that Fig,- Shad its other half; Fig. 10 is anenlarged side View of the slide-in hair retaining member for the bowfrog; Fig. 11 is an end view of Fig-l0; Fig. 12 is a view of the headhair retaining plug, Fig. 13, as seen from line l2+l2;.Fig.- 13.is aside view of the head hair retainingplugwith hair. ends; Fig. 14 is anend view .ofuFig. 131-as seen from line i4l4; Fig. 15 Jisyato'p viewrof:the head plug; and Fig. 16 is abottomviewof the plug withhair ends.

Similar,reference-numerals refer to similar parts. throughout. theseveral views.

Again referring to'th'e drawing in detail it will beseenthat theinvention-comprises a bow sticl: l withhair or. substitutema'terial 2,frog 3, and head sect ion;6.. Thesectionfi isattached to the upperportion of theaheadon the: bow stick I and is adapted to hold and retainthis section 6 by screwlD meanspand'isuitable glue in the jointbetweenthe section andltheupper portion. The head section-.6 isnprovidedwith :a recess 9 that is of, an exact-size;andshapeto receive a plug 5in which is imbeddedlor; attached one end of the hair 2 assembly. Theother end of the hair 2 assembly is imbedded or attached in an enlargedend portion 4 of the slide member 1 adapted to fit into correspondingspace 8 with retaining slots or grooves provided in the bottom portionof the frog 3. The head section plug 5 is secured in the recess 9 by atransverse screw 12 that passes through the head section 6 and plug 5after the plug is inserted in the recess 9. The slide member I is heldfirmly in the frog 3 by means of a screw l3 that is inserted in asuitable hole II for same in the slide member l and frog 3 when theslide member is inserted. This screw may be one of full or partiallength thread.

As will be seen from a consideration of Fig. 15 of the drawing, thehairs are so embedded in the plug 5 as to extend therefrom inribbomshape parallelism and thus require no combing out when applyingthe hair unit to the bow. Also, embed ding the hairs in the enlarged endportion of the slide member I obviates the necessity of the ferrule andwedge heretofore employed on the frog at the comparable spot to hold thehair fiat.

A will be seen further from a compai i of Figs. 4, 5 and 11 of thedrawing, the enlarged portion 4 of the member 1 is of the same sir icontour as the adjacent inward end of thl so that when mounted as shownin Fig. 4 its out...

" emcee surfaces merge with the adjacent surfaces of the frog andprovide a smooth-surfaced continuation thereof corresponding to theshape of the ferrule heretofore employed in conjunction with a wedge inholding the hair fiat. Thi is important in giving to the how the samefamiliar feel and grip as are found in bows of the prior art.

From the foregoing it is apparent that the hair and hair holding plugand slide member as shown in Fig. 2 can be produced as a replaceableunit adapted to fit into proper place in the assembled bow by simplyattaching with two small screws. Thus when trouble develops in the hairassembly, all that is necessary is to loosen and remove the retainingscrews, pull out the plug and slide member with damaged hair, and inserta new unit.

The parts may be made of any material best suited for the purpose andadapted to have the ends of the hair or substitute material as hairimbedded or attached therein, but I prefer to use plastic of a suitablegrade.

While I have shown and described the pre ferred embodiment of myinvention, I do not wish to limit same to the exact and precise detailsof structure, but reserve the right to make all modi fications andchanges so long as I remain within the spirit and scope of the followingclaims.

Having described my invention, I claim:

1. In a bow for musical instruments embodying a bow stick, a frog and ahead, a hair unit comprising a plug in which one nd of the hair isembedded, a screw extending through the plug transversely of the headfor securing the plug thereto, there being a recess in the head forreceiving the plug, and at the other terminus of the hair an elongatedmember in one end of which the hair is embedded, there being alongitudinally extending recess in the frog for receiving the elongatedmember, and means for securing the elongated member to the frog.

2. A device as set forth in claim 1 in which the head is divided intoupper and lower sections and in which the lower section is secured tothe upper by means of a screw extending upwardly from the bottom of therecess in the head.

3. A device as set forth in claim 2 in which the portion of theelongated member in which the hair is embedded, abuts the inward end ofthe frog at the recess opening and in which a screw extends upwardlythrough the elongated member into the frog to anchor it thereto.

4. In a bow for musical instruments embodying a stick having a head atone end and a frog at the other, a head having a portion integral withthe stick and a separable portion for securing the hair unit of the bowthereto, said separable portion being separated from the other portionof the head along a plane extending longitudinally of the stick, andhaving a recess therein for receiving the end of the hair unit, and ascrew extending from the bottom of the recess into the other portion ofthe head for securing the separable portion in place.

5. In a bow as set forth in claim 4, a hair unit having at one end aplug that fits a head recess. the hairs being embedded in this plug andextending therefrom in ribbon-shape parallelism, and in which the plugis held in place in the recess by a screw extending transversely throughthe separable portion and the plug.

6. In a bow as set forth in claim 5, a hair unit having the hairs at theother end thereof embedded in an enlarged end of an elongated unit, alongitudinally extending tongue and groove connection between theelongated unit and the frog, and a screw passing through the elongatedunit into the frog for holding said elongated unit in place.

EDWIN B. TICHENOR.

REFERENCES CITED The following references are of record in the file ofthis patent:

UNITED STATES PATENTS Number Name Date 564,448 Nelson July 21, 18961,427,851 Rigg Sept. 5, 1922 1,461,096 Rigg July 10, 1923

